WALDRON LEARNING LAY OF LAND IN ASSEMBLY

Ex-councilwoman is now a freshman lawmaker in capital

Freshman Assemblywoman Marie Waldron has spent the last four months boning up on Skype, fog warnings at Lindbergh Field, how a bill becomes a law and lobbyist regulations.

After 14 years on the Escondido City Council, Waldron was easily elected last November to represent the Assembly’s 75th District, which includes much of inland North County and Temecula.

Since then, she has taken a crash course in California state government and how to juggle her work life in Sacramento with her family life in Escondido.

“They start you off with a lot of training,” Waldron said Friday morning in her new district office in downtown Escondido. “It’s how to hire staff, how a bill works through the process and other things like that.”

Meanwhile, Waldron has been trying to stay connected with her husband, Steve, and 12-year-old son, Michael, while living 500 miles away in Sacramento four days a week.

She Skypes with Michael often, texts with him back and forth, and does everything she can to make sure his homework is done.

“It’s different when you’re a mom and a woman,” said Waldron, 51.

Another hurdle has been taking so many airplane flights and train rides.

“The toughest part is the traveling back and forth,” she said. “When I’m up there working, it goes by quick.”

Traveling can also be fraught with complications, Waldron said. She sometimes takes the train up to Sacramento on Sunday nights to avoid fog closures and delays at Lindbergh Field.

Waldron said she has made her life in Sacramento smoother by renting a townhouse about seven minutes from the Capitol building.

“I don’t have to keep taking things back and forth like some of the people still living in hotels,” Waldron said, referring to some of her fellow freshmen in the Assembly.

Waldron, a conservative Republican, said she also has had to shift gears politically. She went from the Escondido council, where she was part of a supermajority, to the Assembly, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 55 to 25.

But she said the atmosphere in Sacramento has been less partisan than she expected. One explanation might be that half the Assembly’s 80 members are freshmen this year, she said.

“Like me, a lot of the new folks came from city councils, where it’s nonpartisan,” she said.

Waldron said she’s also hopeful that she can work with moderate Democrats on issues important to her, such as loosening regulations on small business and lowering taxes.

But even without cooperation from Democrats, Waldron said she expects to play an important role.

“The Republican voice should be heard because millions of people voted for us,” she said.

Waldron has sponsored five bills so far. They’ve focused on harsher penalties for child pornography, business taxes, prison realignment, electric vehicle parking and the state’s video game industry.

None of the bills have become law yet, but the one related to child pornography passed the Assembly without opposition last Monday.

Waldron was recently appointed the Assembly’s Republican whip, a leadership position that entails rallying members of her party and gauging their support for specific bills.

Assemblyman Brian Jones (R-Santee), the party’s caucus chair, said Friday that Waldron was an ideal choice for whip.

“She’s a quick learner, but she also takes enough time to really understand things,” he said. “She’s got the right temperament and intelligence to move the caucus in a positive direction.”